Who Mourns for Adonais? (episode)
The Enterprise is captured by an alien claiming to be Apollo, the Greek god of the sun. Summary As the ''Enterprise'' nears the planet Pollux IV, a huge, green hand made of energy materializes in space, catching and holding the ship. Then, on scanner 57, a new image: the ghostly, laurel-wreathed head of a man. Claiming the eons have passed, he welcomes the Enterprise crew, congratulating them for leaving their plains and valleys and making a "bold venture". Among other things, this being claims familiarity with Earth, from five thousand years ago, tossing about the names of individuals alive then. Kirk's repeated demands for freedom finally irritate him, and he threatens to "close his hand" and crush the ship -- a threat that seems very real. This threat finally prompts Kirk to agree to visit the planet with his officers, except for Spock. Spock evidently reminds this being of Pan, who always bored him. The landing party consists of Kirk, McCoy, Scotty, Chekov and Lieutenant Carolyn Palamas. Palamas is trained in archaeology, anthropology, and ancient civilizations -- all fields likely to be of some use here. There, they meet the being responsible for their capture. A being familiar with ancient Earth, and who introduces himself as Apollo. Despite his claims, McCoy's scans show him to be a "simple humanoid". Apollo claims he and others -- Zeus, Athena, Aphrodite, Artemis -- were a "gallant band of travellers" who visited Earth five thousand years ago. He demands to be worshiped, and in return offers a simple, pleasureable life. He reveals himself as petulant, arrogant, and accustomed to obedience. All these qualities correspond with his depictions as a god. But he controls a power that also makes him very dangerous, as the crew discover in a number of ways: phasers are fused, individuals are injured by lightning strikes, or other acts of directed will. And, he has developed a romantic interest in Carolyn Palamas. Despite his array of tricks, the Enterprise landing party refuses to believe Apollo is a god. Aboard the ship, Spock is proceeding under the same assumption, and the crew there may be making headway: Uhura busys herself rigging a subspace bypass circuit to restore communications. And Sulu discovers a strange radiated power with no clear source. Apollo, meanwhile, has taken Carolyn Palamas away from the rest of the Enterprise people. During a conversation, she discovers that the gods left Earth when mankind turned away from them. They returned to their home, an empty place without worshippers. But they lacked the strength to leave, and so they waited. And over the course of time, all but Apollo ... discorporated. Apollo claims the gods are immortal, and can't die, at least, not the way humans understand death. But even they eventually reach a point of no return; they "spread themselves upon the wind ... thinner, and thinner, until only the wind remained..." The landing party has also discovered the energy flow, but, like Sulu, they can't isolate it. Chekov's theory is that Apollo can channel this flow of energy through his body without harm to himself. Finding the source of this energy is top priority. McCoy adds something very interesting: while generally a standard humanoid, Apollo has an extra organ in his chest that so far defies understanding. Chekov makes as key observation: as Apollo vanishes, he appears tired or pained. It seems that Apollo has a limited reservoir, and when he expends too much energy, he must retreat and recharge. Aboard ship, as Uhura and Sulu work, Spock has devised a method he hopes will penetrate the force field, at least in a few places; he proposes to generate M-rays on selected wavelengths. On Apollo's return, the landing party attempts to goad him into attacking someone; their goal is to force him to expend his power, and weaken him so that he might be overpowered. But Carolyn Palamas, who was not part of the plan, ruins it in her well-meaning attempt to save Kirk from Apollo's wrath. Attempts to foil Apollo's plans are hampered by Carolyn Palamas, who has fallen in love with the god and whom Apollo decides will be his bride. This is a problem, because Kirk's final plan requires her to spurn Apollo; if she does this, depriving him of the love and adulation he needs, it may weaken him. If she chooses Apollo, the Enterprise crew had better be prepared for a radical change in their lives. Spock determines that the god's powers come from his temple. The Enterprise has used his technique to pierce the force field around the ship. When Kirk tells Lt. Palamas to reject Apollo, which she reluctantly does, the captain orders Spock to use the U.S.S. Enterprise's weapons to destroy Apollo's temple. Apollo, rejected by a mortal woman and bereft of his powers, spreads himself upon the winds to join his fellow gods. After he is gone, McCoy and Kirk regret what they had to do ... but what Apollo demanded, mankind could no longer give. Log entries *''Captain’s log, stardate 3468.1. While approaching Pollux IV, a planet in the Beta Geminorum system, the Enterprise has been stopped in space by an unknown force of some kind. '' Memorable Quotes "The eons have passed, and what has been written has come about. You are most welcome, my beloved children -- your places await you!" -- Apollo "Captain Kirk; I invite you and your officers to join me. But do not bring that one -- the one with the pointed ears. He is much like Pan, and Pan always bored me. No sad faces -- let your hearts prepare to sing!" "Let's go, Bones; you in good voice?" "Jim, are you sure this is a good idea?" "If we don't accept his gracious invitation, we'll have a crushed egg shell where this ship used to be." -- Apollo, Kirk and McCoy "Insulted, Mr. Spock?" "Insults are effective only where emotion is present." -- Kirk and Spock "I am Apollo." (sarcastically) "And I am the Czar of all the Russians!" "Mr. Chekov--" "I'm sorry, sir; I never met a god before." "And you haven't yet." -- Apollo, Chekov, Kirk "Apollo, we're willing to talk... but you'll find we don't bow down to everyone who has a bag of tricks." "Agamemnon was one such as you, and Hercules; proud and arrogant. They defied me -- until they felt my wrath." "I would like to point out that we are quite capable of some 'wrath' ourselves." -- Kirk, Apollo and Scott "To coin a phrase: 'fascinating!'" -- McCoy, after seeing Apollo change size. "Apollo's no god. But he might have been taken for one... once. Say, five thousand years ago, a group of highly advanced space travellers landed on Earth-- somewhere around the Mediterranean." "Yes! To the simple shepherds and tribesmen of early Greece, creatures like that would have been gods." "Especially if they had the power to alter their form at will, and command great energy. In fact, they wouldn't have been taken for anything else." -- Kirk, McCoy Apollo: You will dismantle your ship for the supplies you will need; then I'll crush it's empty hull. I have been too patient. I shall be patient... no longer. Scott: Captain, we've got to do something! Kirk: We were doing something, until our brave lady stepped in and saved us. McCoy: Got any more bright ideas, Jim? Kirk: Yes, I do, Bones -- one more, and it depends on the lieutenant's loyalty. If she fails us... we'd better get used to herding goats. Kirk: Where's Apollo? Chekov: He disappeared again! Like the cat in that Russian story... Kirk: Don't you mean the English story - the Cheshire cat? Chekov: Cheshire? No, sir; Minsk, perhaps... Kirk: All right, all right, all right... Apollo: Zeus. Hermes. Hera. Aphrodite. You were right. Athena. You were right. The time is passed. There is no room for gods. Forgive me, my old friends. Take me. Take me. Take me... Kirk to Scotty: Besides, you stiff-necked thistle-head, you could have gotten yourself killed! Scott: (sighs) Aye... Chekov: The electric eel on Earth. The giant dryworm of Antos IV. The fluffy- McCoy: Not the whole encyclopedia, ensign. Chekov: The captain requires complete information. McCoy: Spock's contaminating this boy, Jim. Kirk: Are you saying that he, Apollo, is able to channel his power from another source? Chekov: That would seem most likely, sir. Kirk: Mr. Chekov, I think you've just earned your pay for the week. But where is the source of that power? McCoy: Number one on our list of things to do. Background Information * The title is taken from Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Line 415 starts with "Who mourns for Adonais?". Another one of its lines reads, "O, weep for Adonais. He is dead." * Adonai is a Hebrew name for God. * This is the only time in TOS that a star is both referred to as its Bayer name and ancient name. * The episode was filmed in late May and early June 1967 * In the trailer, the phasers fired by the ''Enterprise'' at the temple are blue. In the episode itself, they are red. * Fred Steiner's powerful score for this episode would be re-used many times in subsequent episodes. The beautiful French horn music heard as Kirk philosophises with Carolyn is not used again. * The destruction of Apollo's temple, combined with Fred Steiner's incredible music score, is a very impressive special effects sequence, closely mirrored by a much less interesting phaser barrage on Val a few episodes down the road. * A traveling matte was used to allow a giant Apollo to appear with our landing party in the foreground at the end of act one. * The huge hand keeping the Enterprise from moving in the beginning of this episode is in fact Gene Roddenberry's. * Although never revealed in the episode, at the end of the story, Carolyn Palamas was pregnant with Apollo's child. Peter David's Star Trek: New Frontier character Mark McHenry is a descendant of this child, and has at least some of the powers of these beings. * Chekov's comments about Russians being responsible for all of the greatness of humanity were intended to be a regular feature. Unfortunately, except for this episode, "Friday's Child", "The Trouble with Tribbles" and an aside about the Garden of Eden being "just outside Moscow" in "The Apple", this did not end up happening. * Although Apollo is a giant in stature again at the end of the episode and towering far above all the trees, they are shown over his shoulder in the close-ups. * The premise of this episode--that ancient mythological figures were powerful exterrestrial beings--would later become a driving premise of the science-fiction film Stargate and its television spin-offs. * In the middle of the episode, Spock refers to Apollo by name, but no one on the ship could know about him--when Kirk and his team beamed down to the planet, their communicators had been disabled and Apollo had not identified himself before they beamed down. Links and References VHS edition available through Amazon under ISBN 6300213374 Main Cast * William Shatner as Kirk * Leonard Nimoy as Spock * DeForest Kelley as McCoy * James Doohan as Scott * George Takei as Sulu * Nichelle Nichols as Uhura * Walter Koenig as Chekov Guest Stars * Michael Forest as Apollo * Leslie Parrish as Carolyn * John Winston as Kyle Co-Starring * Eddie Paskey as Leslie (uncredited) * William Blackburn as Hadley (uncredited) * Roger Holloway as Roger Lemli (uncredited) * Jay Jones as James Doohan's stunt double References class M; electric eel; giant dryworm; Mediterranean; Mount Olympus; nitrogen; Olympian; oxygen; Pollux IV; Saracen; nuclear electronics Category:TOS episodes de:Der Tempel des Apoll fr:Who Mourns for Adonais? nl:Who Mourns for Adonais?